Pakistan approves bill to establish National Forensic Agency

Pakistan's National Assembly, the lower house of parliament in its bicameral system, approved legislation for a national forensic investigation agency on Wednesday, completing its passage through parliament after the Senate's earlier approval last Friday.

The National Forensic Agency will handle deepfake investigations, cybercrime and other cases involving digital or conventional forensics, once the president signs the bill into law.

The bill, formally titled the "National Forensic Agency Act 2024," was presented to the National Assembly by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and received majority support. This followed the bill's clause-by-clause approval in the Senate the previous week.

The new law will take effect after receiving the President's signature and subsequent publication in the official gazette.

The body's powers

According to the legislation, the National Forensic Agency will be headquartered in Islamabad and will provide services across all provinces.

The agency will function as a central coordinating body, offering both conventional and digital forensics services to government departments and the private sector. It will establish a state-of-the-art digital forensics department focusing on national security matters and serve as a center of excellence with a one-window resources center.

The agency's broad mandate includes significant new powers: it can accredit private forensics labs, reexamine reports from any local or international agency, and notably, experts who provide "false, incorrect or misleading" opinions can face imprisonment up to one year or fines up to PKR 100,000.

The law's definition of digital forensics encompasses a wide range of technologies, from mobile devices to cloud data. While the legislation establishes a governing board chaired by the Secretary of Interior and includes other senior officials, some administrative decisions can be made by a three-member executive committee in urgent matters.

Path to passage

The legislation's journey through parliament began on October 17, 2024, when Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi first introduced it, followed by its review in the Senate Standing Committee on Interior under Senator Faisal Saleem Rehman's chairmanship.

Law Minister Senator Azam Nazir Tarar, who presented the bill in the Senate last Friday, defended it as "crucial for enhancing the country's forensic framework and bolstering investigations" despite opposition concerns about provincial jurisdiction infringement. The Pakistan Peoples Party ultimately withdrew its proposed amendments.

The agency's leadership structure requires the Director General, who will serve as the board's secretary, to be appointed within six months and prohibits them from holding dual citizenship.

The bill also includes a controversial provision stating that "no action under this Act shall be questioned in any court except as outlined in this Act," while offering protection to agency personnel acting in good faith.